Posts Tagged ‘Congress’

We need open primaries in Georgia because the elected officials are entrenched while Atlanta and D.C. could use some new blood. Evidently, protecting jobs (their jobs) is their main concern and both major political parties support the current funky system.

So, a candidate who has support from various sections of the community must first win his or her primary before advancing to the general election in November. Well, they draw this district lines in a way that favors their team—Democrats and Republicans both do it. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires preclearance of congressional and state legislature district lines in some states to improve the representation of minority voters. A strange twist is that packing Black voters into a few districts makes adjacent districts so Republican that Black voters (often Democrats) are ignored. Yes, we could have a sizeable number of Black Republicans if the crazy part of the GOP didn’t run them off.

Ask yourself: Is race, political party or regional interests most important to you when voting. Do you necessarily need a Black politician to serve your needs? Is green (money) the most important color while voting? Hey, the homeboy Bill Clinton gets a lifetime hood pass but he dam near got it revoked for taking trash about Obama during the Obama/Hillary primary battle. While I love the Obamas, Bill will always be my dude.. without regard for race, creed or national origin.

When Herman Cain was running for the U.S. Senate, everyone knew that he could have gotten a sizeable part of the Black vote in an open primary process. In an open primary, candidates run together and the top two vote-getters face off in the general election. That is similar to local elections when everyone runs for office together and a candidate wins with over 50% of the vote. If no 50%, the two top candidates meet in a runoff.

Many believe that Karen Handel would have face Nathan Deal in November if Georgia had an open primary during the last govenor’s race. She would have likely won because she would have received support from some Democrat woman. Look, the South is GOP and I get that but if given a chance, I would and have voted for the GOP candidate whose views are most similar to my moderate positions.

Bottomline: we should push for open primaries so we can vote for the best person for the job rather than the person who survives a partisan primary.

From ABC’s Scandal to OWN’s The Haves and the Have Nots, I see two lovely and brilliant characters who look like me chasing weak men who don’t look like me. So, it’s time for a blog post full of wild theories. A post designed to stimulate healthy and interesting discussions more so than to offer solid facts.

We have a plantation mentality (PM) and by we, I mean all of the sons and daughters on the South. Scandal takes place in D.C. and that is a southern city. I could see General Robert E. Lee’s beloved Lee/Custis Mansion from my southwest D.C. balcony; a house that became Arlington National Cemetery.

A plantation mentality occurs when people, longer after the Civil War ended in 1865 and after Jim Crow ended in 1975, still think and function with the mindset that one group is better by nature than the other. Under that mindset, some older Blacks did vote for Barack Obama for president because deep in their minds we can’t do what others can do. The oppression continues but it’s not others doing it. No, we are on oppression/self-hate autopilot.

Joe Morton plays Olivia’s father on Scandal and I still remember this gentleman from playing the candidate with whom Whitley was involved on A Different World. While Sonya Rhimes generally avoids racial references in her shows, she started this season of Scandal with Olivia’s father reminding her that we must always be twice as good at everything we do. It isn’t fair but it is true and if he had a son, he would have told him the life sessions that would have saved Trayvon on that rainy Florida night. Oh, you might be right and you might have rights but know how to be a Black man in America—from sea to shining sea because the South doesn’t have a monopoly on racial drama. National PM

All high school kids should pay attention in psychology class because that Electra complex stuff about girls with daddy issues is too true. They trying to find a guy like dad or striking at men because their pops wasn’t around. Olivia and Candace could fill a season of Iyanla Fix My Life. So a girl grows up loving her father as a rock but then watches the world treat him as less than a man…a boy. That must be rough. PM

The same girls are excited in college, on a cruise or in Vegas when a guy from another side (a guy from the plantation big house) finds her attractive. It has always been my theory that southern White men of means had a thing for sistas because many of them were raised by loving maternal sistas and held them in the highest regard until they got to the frat house in Athens or Auburn and began racial reprogramming. PM

PM is not only a Black thing. Oh, no. The plantation mentality tells a below average White dude that he can holla at the sweetest sista in the world because everyone in one group is automatically better than everyone in another group. It is in the Bible…bla bla cursed people…bla bla obey your masters… waterbearers. Lawd have mercy. Jesus died for all previous everything so let’s move forward.

And Black people need to stop lumping all White folks together. Some of the sweet people I have ever known are White southerners and some of the meanest look just like me—I can be pretty rough my dam self. The coolest Americans might be those in the Midwest of Scandinavian descent—think the people on the movie Fargo and Rose from the Golden Girls. While southerners evidentially coming from places where they wanted someone to do their work for them, the Scan mentality is salt of the Earth.

At the U.S. Congress, many Midwestern members did like USDA farm support programs because these people functioned with the simple notion that you put the crop in the ground then take it to market with no help from anyone. If you couldn’t do that, you should find other work. Barrack Obama was raised by sweet folks like that and I know that he is actually a conservative in his heart. If you think about it, Obama did it the hard way, the old fashion way, and that is why it hurts me to see people attack his character and that of his lovely wife.

That old plantation mentality had people thinking that this shady negro has conned his way into the White House with a desire to ruin this country in his Black head. PM has some Blacks thinking that Obama isn’t one of us because he never really interacted with us until he got to Chicago.

Can we give it a rest? If the sista on T.V. or in actuality wants to love someone who doesn’t look like us, I am happy for them because there needs to be more love in this world. The kids (and by kids I mean anyone who can remember life before T.V. remote controls) have the right idea. Oh, they will hang, kick it or chill with their buddies with no consideration of race. But, parents on both sides still have their heritage deep in their minds.

So, Candace “be” kissing on Bo Duke. Boss Hogg must be rolling over in his grave. On the Dukes of Hazzard, Roscoe P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg ran that southern town into the ground. The plantation mentality subjugates poor Whites also. But, old Bo married a sista with tens of millions, has a strikingly beautiful sista as his side thing, has a bro doing his dirt work and is about to be governor. Modern PM..some things never change.

Here is a fun social exercise. When the Haves and the Have Nots is on the box and Candace is on with her roommate, ask an old Black person which woman looks better. Nine times out of ten they will say the lighter sista when Candace is clearly one of the most beautiful women on earth. But, old heads don’t like that brown skin…even brown old heads. When Mrs. Cryer is on with her lady lawyer friend, an old head would say the same thing again when the lawyer is much better looking. PM

That old plantation mentality is also the reason we hold our candidates to crazy high standards during election season. We simply don’t believe in us as much as we believe in others. Sad PM

5:10 a.m. is before the dawn of a new southern day or as we use to say “ ‘fore day in the morning.” It’s also the dawn of a new day politically and the beginning of a new season. Change is obligatory.

The local elections this year and the wider elections next year are good times to lay the foundation of what we need in your southern communities. We need leaders who speak openly and honestly about bringing us together and improving our conditions. Co-founder of this blog Helen Blocker Adams is such a leader and Augusta, Georgia, should make her their next mayor.

Helen and I have spent countless hours discussing the importance of bridging community divides and that is the reason I chose a southern bridge for the cover art of this blog. The rock band the Police had a reggae song called “One World Is Enough For All Of Us” that includes the line “we can’t sink while others float because we are all in the same big boat.” In Augusta, the medical college recently continued it’s land acquisition but fairly created new housing for displace citizens.

We need similar changes in my town and the changes could apply to a thousand American communities. We are a proud agricultural community; we grown produce. Only a few percentage of Americans work directly in ag but those hard working people feed everyone else. While I generally have no stomach for Donald Trump, he is correct in stating that America doesn’t make things anymore and making things will be the return of jobs.

The new mission for my community should surprisingly be based on towns like Mayberry from television. See, some people like to raise families and grow old in peaceful, friendly places where everyone knows and cares for everyone else. My town is sandwiched between two larger cities and to me, we are a bedroom community for those who don’t mind a short drive for some peace.

We need leaders who are concerned with every little corner of the community because problems and trouble know no boundaries. In our local elections, every candidate is personally cool with me and I would be lying if I said that basic municipal services weren’t fine. They are.

However, there comes a time when talented leadership should step up to the next challenge…when your services and skills are better required on a different level of government. For example, New Jersey has two bright rising stars and I personally like their new style of leadership. Newark Major Cory Booker is running for the U.S. Senate and this guy earned his stripes. He is a Sanford/Yale guy whose parents were two of the first Blacks at IBM but he lived in the projects as mayor to better understand the lives of his citizens. The guy doesn’t talk in generalizations; he gets down to details of what is wrong—straight no chaser. He speaks directly to the people about what they should do to improve their communities.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is clearly running for president and if Hillary isn’t the next POTUS, it should be him. The big guy tells it like it is and doesn’t might stepping on a few toes if needed.

In southwest Georgia, the Chamber of Commerce types have done an admirable job of marketing our communities with emphasis being on the good qualities. However, it’s time to address (deal with) the rest of the community. Where are the leaders who can comfortably and firmly bring out the best from the rest? Countless sons and daughters of the rural South dream about retiring to these piney forests but two main concerns are the racial climate and the growing actions of the thug element.

We need to grow our youth with the care we have traditionally used to produce our crops. We must prepare the soil, plant the seed organically and monitor until ripeness. But, we must also root out weeds and remove pests.

Issues that local candidates should be addressing included:

1. Police: It’s wonderful when the local police achieve that delicate balance between firmness and compassion. During the Clinton Presidency, the Congress passed a Crime Bill that promoted Community Policing. The best officers (we have some good ones) know their patrol areas and greet people. They use knowledge of and relationships with citizens to serve and protect. Unfortunately, some officers develop a hard spirit from constantly dealing with thugs; they should remember that the vast majority of the people appreciate and support them. Cops should smile and walk more.

2. Economic Development: We know that real E.D. begins in the homes, the schools and the churches. Hey, the Chamber can’t attract industry to a town if those industrial leaders read rough stats about the educational abilities of the workforce. An unofficial duty of elected officials is encouraging citizens to be fully focused on achievement—get in their faces like Booker and Big Chris up Jersey way.

3. Downtown Revitalization: Madison, Tifton, Moultrie, Americus, Thomasville. Even Hahira. These Georgia towns have cool downtown areas. The granola-eating, bicycle-riding, wine-sipping types love to live in and visit towns with preserved character. I still don’t get antiquing because it reminds me of rough days for us but hey, if it brings dollars to town, roadshow your blank off. I do love old buildings with character and retrofitting them with lofts brings life back to downtown. Paris, Napa Valley and Barcelona have a café culture and so can south Georgia but rather than sitting outside on the sidewalk sipping Riesling we might preferred sweet tea or a cool one from a Mason jar–Duck Dynasty style. This would be a nice way to watch the Bulldogs, Yellow Jackets or Falcons give a game away…again.

4. Crime: We need leaders who will work with state and federal officials to address the growing cost of criminal activity. Of course, it starts with education, faith and better parenting. The next crop of leaders needs to be familiar with regular folks—dare I say that they should have street cred. You must know the streets to fix the streets.

5. Housing: Homeowership anchors a taxpaying family to a community. Whatever happened to starter homes? Let’s be honest, item number four (crime) has people moving out of town. The thug element frightens people…me included. But, hell no. The houses in my community were built my farmworkers who moved to town. These people work so hard (making money for someone else) to purchase their slice of the American dream. Today, most of those men have gone to glory and their widows live in fear from half-raised boys…raised more by hip hop videos than family and church. You can’t be a new community leader if approaching those young men isn’t in your nature. At some point, we need to secure federal funding to relocate some ag operations from the town’s center to the outskirts and replace that area with mixed-use housing. I want to hear “let’s walk to church” again.

6. Resourcefulness: we have a fine crop of local candidates. If they play their cards right, those who don’t win can’t run for the Georgia General Assembly next year with the support of the person who beat them. Our statehouses need new blood because the political parties seem out of touch. They put party over people. I take my hat off to Governor Christie for working with President Obama when New Jersey got hit my a super storm. That’s what leaders do to be resourceful.

Elected officials and public employees have official responsibilities and also have unofficial duties. These duties aren’t on paper but are sometimes as important as the items on the official job descriptions. For example, Hillary Clinton would have been and still will be a fine president; she knows presidential stuff as well as Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and the second George Bush did on the day they were sworn into office.

But, there was something special about Obama becoming president; something related to healing. Also, my community needed to have someone who looks like them in office so he could once and for all tell them that a person who is like you isn’t going to give you everything. Obama said that from the first day of his campaign and people get it now.

Those unofficial duties therefore explaining the limited role of government to hardhead people who only listen to people from their circle. In my hometown, we recently had an issue with flooding. A city councilman was on the local T.V. news broadcast saying that the city government wasn’t the problem with certain flooding. Water wasn’t flowing properly because locals were tossing bottles and trash into ditches and that debris clogged the pipes. I love it; dude basically said, “The problem is you.” We need more of that.

While it might sound racial, I want more Black clean cut guys in lower grades teaching positions because some kids don’t see positive brothers during their development. Non-Black students need to see that also because they’re formulating their opinions of us on rap videos and the fools on the Maury Povich Show. If I had Oprah/Bill Gates type money, I would give a grant or supplement to Black male teachers in lower grades. Hey, two students at my black college told me that Senator Saxby Chambliss’ wife was one of the sweetest and most loving people in their lives. Seeing her at school was the high point of their day and a positive light in an otherwise tough childhood.

Hillary Clinton is going to be president and little girls can be proud of the fact that women make the world go around. If I had my choice, I would still like to see Republican Jon Huntsman in the White House one day because part of his unofficial duties would be being a conservative who isn’t angry and dismissive. He drives the far right crazies more crazy with his cool approach. I am uniquely qualified to say vote for the right person in the right situation because I am a moderate Democrat who has voted for both of Georgia’s current U.S. Senators a few times. I voted for them because they support the economic engines of this region: agriculture and the military.

Of course, it’s not cool for reasonable members of a group to remain quiet as other members of that group say ugly things about others. I wouldn’t be quiet if someone was talking about all White people being this or that when I know that isn’t true. That would be ugly by association. What about those rich kids who had “the help” as second mothers but who grow up to say the ugliness things about all of “those people.”

I tell you what, I am not voting for anyone who doesn’t have a comfort level and functioning relationship with people in every community. Coni Rice, Jon Huntsman, Colin Powell, Rep. Sanford Bishop and Rep, Jack Kingston come to mind as public servants who can dialog with anyone—disagree without being disagreeable. The most important unofficial duty might be the ability to reasonably explain public policy to those who disagree with you.

America is at it’s worst when supporters of a public official dare him or her to talk with the other side. People who don’t make much money and people who have had it rough (by their own creation) are still Americans. Any person, political parties or group that wants to suppress their voting are un-American to me. This whole blog post isn’t race-based because the last time I checked most of the people in my community have as much affection for the presidential service of Bill Clinton as for Barrack Obama. As quiet as it is kept, that southerner White dude knows more about these piney woods in Georgia than any president other than James Earl Carter.

With unofficial duties in mind, Michelle Nunn and Karen Handel get a certain amount of consideration for U.S. Senate because they have that lady logic working. Yes, the Georgia congressional delegation needs a woman’s touch and I would look seriously at a sista from the GOP running for the U.S. House. Sisters in my community are now and have always been relatively conservative and they know that our community has become too reliant on the government. It’s a shame that the Tea Party will force Handel to act hardcore to win their primary. Rep. Jack Kingston is in that senate primary and that cat will talk with anyone anywhere because that is part of his official duties.

Unofficial duties include telling it like it “tiz.” If you don’t know that that adage, you might not be ready to represent both sides of the tracks down here.

In the local elections this fall, I know and respect all of the candidates. But, competition is actually healthy; competition like Obama vs. Hillary that elevated both of their games. I can’t help but think that better competition might have compel Rep. Sanford Bishop to have been hungrier legislatively and could have lead him into the U.S. Senate or a presidential cabinet postition.

Barrack Obama was defeated in a U.S. House race by Bobby Rush, who is from Albany, Georgia. Heaven only knows who would be president today if Obama got bogged down in the morass of the House.

Local and state elected positions are building blocks for federal positions. Actually, there are members of the state legislature who never wanted to be in the Congress. Being a part-time lawmaker is cool but being a full-time congressman would be a pay cut for a person balling in the private sector. i.e. state Rep. Calin Smyre of Columbus. By building blocks I mean that congressional candidates look to members of the state house and state senate for support. Candidates for the state houses in turn look to local officials. Of course, presidential candidates look to elected officials on all levels.

To make it plain, Hillary Clinton 2016 starts with local elections this year.

I am ticked off by the ultra conservatives who ran moderates out of the Republican Party and who are designing laws and procedures in the state capitol to limited Americans from voting. They seem to be functioning under the Jean-Paul Sartre/Malcolm X phrase “By any means necessary.”

Gerrymandering of state legislature and U.S. Congress lines have left large sections of the South with one party leadership. In other words, candidates can win elections with little input and support from anyone who doesn’t look like them or thinking totally like them. My friends in the conservative movement will dare elected officials to listening to and explaining matters to the other side. I thought that was their jobs. To give credit where credit is due, Rep. Sanford Bishop and Rep. Jack Kingston love to talk issues with anyone in their service areas—hats off to them for that.

I want paraphrase Jesus to those whom might come up short in the coming election: Let not your heart be troubled…in my father’s house are many mansions.” The houses I have in mind are the state house and state senate. These are the legislative bodies where laws like “stand your ground” were passed. The place where state officials and lawmakers think it is cute to make it hard for regular people of any color to vote.

Look, I didn’t like former Democrat Congressman Jim Marshall and I gladly voted for reasonable Republican candidate Austin Scott because Marshall slamming Dems was too much. With the same strategy in mind, I hope that some of the candidates who fall short in the local elections will consider running for the state houses next year—from either major political party. I am sure that there are enough southern moderates to sway some primaries next year.

The most important matter is massive voter turnout. You can vote for Dora the Explorer for all I care but vote because someone is trying to reverse your rights. “Oh, after Obama is off the ballot…those people will go back to not voting again….right?” Wrong.

In the future, we will have some Republican sistas in the Georgia congressional delegation. These conservative ladies will keep legislative debate civic and tell my community what wise people already know—that the government isn’t your bank.

In the rap classic “Fight the Power,” Chuck D said, “Gotta give ‘em what they want…gotta give ‘em what they need.” In this country, what we want isn’t necessarily what we need e.g. slavery, Jim Crow, clear cutting forest, robbing of Indians, child labor, the defense industrial complex, lifetime public assistance, fast food.

It is time for my annual venting blog post about a hodgepodge of subject relating to me being right and the status quo being clearly wrong.

Liberals: Heaven knows the left means well and their general thinking seems rooted in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. However, long-term assistance can create a segment of the public that is weak—always looking for help from others rather than developing the ability to provide for self. President Reagan was right about that; government is the problem. We need to create a climate where every kid has a fair shot at learning and growing in a career field. Failure wouldn’t be tough luck; it would be the result of being out worked.

Conservatives: My biggest problem with my conservative friends is that their plans for all Americans generally don’t involve all Americans in the discussions. I will admit that much of their core agenda is sound but they want to force feed corrective policies—as if the rest of America is their children. They simply don’t listen to anyone unlike them and that is a big mistake. If they did listen, they would discover that most Black southern voters are more conservative than liberal. Most rural Blacks hate the welfare state created my government and if the leaders of the civil rights movement from the 1950s and 1960s could see us now, they would say this wasn’t the plan.

Conservatives vs. Black nationalists: Are you kidding me! The idiots on right wing radio and Fox News who demonized Rev. Jeremiah Wright blew a great opportunity to improve America. President Obama needs Wright in his corner because Wright and nationalists are throwbacks to those who hate governmental involvement in our daily lives. Uncle Sam isn’t your daddy and surprisingly Clarence Thomas is the man who is most like Wright (pun intended.) I loved the book Justice Thomas wrote about his grandfather’s life skills. Once and for all—the conservative movement should create a relationship with the Black pride movement because these two groups’ messages of personal responsibility are the same.

Hip Hop Culture: While I respect artistic freedom, the current rap culture is detrimental to all youths. For us, rap reflected urban life but those suffering wanted better for their families. Today, “good kids” idolize thugs, pimps, bangers and dealers. When I am on a college campus, I can’t tell the students (budding professionals) from common thugs and strippers. In my day, we call those stupid high heels “come f me” pumps. When women ruin their feet, legs and backs from those shoes, Obamacare shouldn’t cover them because dumb is a preexisting condition.

President Obama’s Vision: While I love President Obama, I need to get Nixon-like for a second and make one thing perfectly clear. Obama vision for what America should be isn’t the reality of what America is. Is that the role of a president—to imagine what we should be and push toward that goal (FDR, Kennedy, Lincoln.) I just feel puzzled sometimes when the president says “we are better than that…we are fair…we are pure hearted.” No brother Obama, “you” are those things while most of us are a mess and a trip. His family raised a wonderful person but some of the things at the top of his agenda have regular folks scratching our heads. But, he is still my guy.

Schemes and Games: Theoretical people like me are often broke while hustlers stay paid with schemes and games. We have hustlers on my street and hustlers on Wall Street. It is now and has always been a dirty game and the simple rule of the game is to get and stay paid. I think most of official Washington today is driven by the desire to stay paid rather than the hope of a better America. Liberals don’t recognize that throwing taxpayers’ money at problems isn’t helping and ultra conservatives don’t realize that the tough boy approach isn’t working.

Silent Majority: I still believe that most Americans are good people who are put-off by drama coming out of Washington and the state houses. Jon Huntsman, Condi Rice and others seem as pure-hearted as me. When we get about the business of having a national effort to improve this great country from the bottom up, you should join us.

I will end this rambling blog post by highlighting the parts of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” that we loved in the pol sci department of my black college. Those lyrics are timeless.

Fight the Power–Public Enemy

[Intro]
Yet our best trained, best educated, best equipped, best prepared troops refuse to fight. As a matter of fact, it’s safe to say that they would rather switch than fight.

[Verse 1]
1989 the number another summer (get down)
Sound of the funky drummer
Music hitting your heart cause I know you got soul
(Brothers and sisters, hey)
Listen if you’re missing y’all
Swinging while I’m singingGiving whatcha getting
Knowing what I know
While the Black bands sweatingAnd the rhythm rhymes rolling
Got to give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power

The Congress today is a mess and it will take dramatic changes to fix it. I can’t believe that the multi-year Farm Bill can’t get passed. Are you kidding me? When I worked on the Hill, they could almost voice vote this important bill but now the hard left and hard right are basically too hard. Compromising moderates/centrists are nowhere to be found. Hell, compromise is a dirty word in D.C. these days.

The Farm Bill was once a seven year act that authorized most USDA programs and operations. It’s vital because everyone needs a safe and affordable food supply. Big commodities like wheat, corn and cotton would receive “assistance” so farmland was happy and feeding assistance programs would generate support from urban legislators. Actually, WIC, the School Lunch/Breakfast Program, supplemental commodities for seniors and the needy, and Food Stamps helped the farmland and cities at the same time because farmers could have additional markets for their products.

With the recent Farm Bill debacle, the hardline left protested $20 billion in cuts that hardline righties wanted in Food Stamps. Don’t get me started on all the biblical references to helping the poor or the general idea that too much assistance can make people softer…weak.

My thoughts go to the old Fram oil filter ad that said “you can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Hungry kids can’t learn at school. Teens looking at starving siblings might turn to drug selling and really cost the public money. Children with poor nutrition are sickly and cost billions in health care. On the other hand, the hard right argues that people shouldn’t have kids until they can afford them. It is fascinatingly ironic to see fat kids on Food Stamps. I have a niece who told me that she stopped by the store to get a few items on a budget near the end of the month (bread and cold cuts)…she attended college in the ACC. A young mother in front of her in the line was buying spendy seafood with food stamps. So, my smart mouth kin said, “you’ll welcome” under her breath.

Congress’s approval rating is at a record low and members seem more concerned about catering to special interest groups than conferring with colleagues about improving our nation. The best families in America are those with limited involvement with government. Midwestern famers with Scandinavian roots simply put the seed in ground, cultivate crops and then go to market.

The future of my community would be brighter if we trained kids to do it without the government. We need a new crop of politicians who would say that. When the far right is busy cutting federal spending on poor people, they should get their friends to look at governmental funds for corporate welfare. In some ways, we are all feeding on the government.